Executive's, legislature's domain: Judiciary has never intervened: CJ

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Thursday said that judiciary never intervened in legislature and executive domain and all were independent in their own spheres. Speaking at a reference held in honour of Justice Mahmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui, he said that 1973 constitution was based on the trichotomy of powers - legislative, executive and judiciary and all these perform their functions independently.
"The role of judiciary is not that of opposition to other two organs of the state [legislature, executive] rather it [judiciary] just places a check on arbitrary exercise of power by any institution or a functionary of the government/executive otherwise all the three organs have the same objectives of ensuring constitutional supremacy," he added.
Justice Chaudhry said that trichotomy of powers had been introduced in the constitutional scheme to ensure independence, impartiality in judicial decision-making and maintaining constitutional balance. "This trichotomy [however] does not prevent interaction among the three organs," he added. There could be practical issues, he added, where perspectives of judges would be of help to the executive and the legislature, he said.
Referring to another aspect, he said that the judiciary as an institution could never be independent until and unless individual judges remain impartial. He said the judges were the pillars of the judicial institution and they were expected to avoid such words, actions and situations that might make them appear prejudiced and disrespectful to the oath, they were sworn to abide by.
He said that establishing justice in the society was not merely a voluntary endeavour. In Islam, he added, justice among people was a divine attribute, which was considered as one of the most sacred and important obligations. The Chief Justice said that Pakistan, being a democratic state, was based on the Islamic principles of social justice wherein the State was responsible to establish justice and eradicate all forms of oppression, transgression and tyranny.
"We are at the crossroads of our existence as we are facing the natural calamities and internal and external threats. At this juncture, we should fulfil individually and collectively the responsibilities and obligations enshrined in the teachings of Islam, which are the primary sources of the law of the land," he added. Highlighting services of retiring brother Judge, the CJ said that he was one of the Judges who did not take oath under the Oath of Office (Judges) Order, 2007, with a view to uphold the supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law.
Moreover, the litigant public itself reposed great confidence in them and Justice Siddiqui possessed all such qualities that make a good judge. He adorned larger benches of the Supreme Court in many important cases and authored many landmark judgements which would provide intellectual guidance to all of us and for the generations to come, he added.